Anti-Climacus

The general rule of thumb for Pavement songs is twofold: first, the music is more likely to direct you to the actual meaning or import of the song than the lyrics ever are (exception that proves the rule: "Date with IKEA," where the earnest Tom Petty rip-off is intended to heighten the irony that the song's about IKEA. Sort of). The second is that, because the songs are often filled with nonsense lyrics, one does well ignoring all those and attempting to discern the meaning of the song from those that remain. In my listening this song has always been the line "honey I'm a prize and you're a catch and we're a perfect match" and a bunch of other lyrics that more or less closely approximate that sentiment, which is supposed to be charmingly funny but is also serious. Either way, this song's now only two plays behind Belle and Sebastian's "She's Losing It" on my itunes, which means I've listened to it about twice as much as anything else in the last month.